Career-minded indecisiveness is a large problem, and in my opinion, widely underestimated as a pressing issue which halts the progression of many people, both young and old.

Whilst growing up, from the day we are born till about 12, we all had really imaginative dreams and visions. We wanted to be actors, musicians, writers, astronauts, F1 drivers, football players and a host of other things.

Then life happened. Ouch!

What I mean is, the longer we attended school in the traditional sense, the more we fell out of love with our dream. The best part about our childhood dreams was probably the fact that we were huge believers that anything was possible.

We literally took everything at face value, but we had the belief that we could achieve anything beyond our wildest dreams if we really wanted to.

However, things changed. Fast.

The concept of reality and normality became a large part of our mental make-up.

Young people today are lost. The majority of them have no vision or understanding of what autonomy truly is. Those who can comprehend it believe it isn’t possible, and those who do believe it is possible are struck down by other unhappy members of society.

So here in lies the problem.

They’ve been conditioned to believe that there is only one road to success, and if you follow it obediently – you will be successful.

Yeah right! There are no guarantees to success in life from my experience.

Let’s take a look at things a little differently, let’s achieve autonomy together.

Honestly, you’re going to spend the majority of your life ‘working’ – might as well spend it doing something you enjoy right?

Take Your Time

First thing is first. You need to take your time with this process.

Many people think that you can easily choose a perfect job, career and/or working lifestyle from a list of industries found in a local newspaper or directory on the internet on a whim, and begin making thousands of dollars almost immediately.

This is not the case at all.

You need to find out what makes you tick!

This is key to finding out exactly what you want to do with your life.

It’s not simply about taking a look at your hobbies and trying to see which one is most profitable or even most enjoyable. You need to figure out what makes you happy on a day-to-day basis, and use that as the foundation to support the structure you wish to build on top.

I’m absolutely certain that every individual ever born from the beginning of time till now, has the ability to create a service of value which millions of people across the globe have a desire and need for.

However, if you rush you’re not going to get anywhere.

It took me 3 years (conscious thinking) before I figured out exactly what I wanted to do with my life, and I didn’t have to speak to a soul.

Most importantly it all started when I realised what life meant to me specifically. Once you have done this, and you’ve given yourself a stringent reason for living, it will become easier for you to conceptualise a plan for making your dream a reality.

To be frank with you, forget about titles and naming it something – just write down what you love doing, what you’d love to do if you had the opportunity to and why.

Get Out The Pen and Paper Please

Finally, you need to consistently ask yourself an exorbitant amount of questions.

What does life mean to me?

What do I want to get out life during my time here?

What am I willing to put into life, in order to get what I want?

How far am I willing to go to make my dream (whatever that may be) come true?

If I could do anything in the entire world and it was guaranteed that I would become an outstanding success in it, what would that thing be?

In what areas do I underestimate my capacity to achieve/be competent at?

What do I love about myself?

What could I teach the world? Don’t underestimate yourself here; there is something you’re good at – that you’re currently rejecting.

I currently have a folder of 150+ pages and growing, filled with brainstormed ideas from the last five years. This is essentially what a playbook is. For me, it’s taking an idea at the height of its potential, and listing out actions in descending order until you can get to an action that you can complete today.

It’s basically reverse engineering. Obviously it’s hard to start this if you have no idea what you want to do, which is why in that case I suggest you carry a notepad everywhere with you until then.

Inspiration

Never underestimate inspiration, for it may come from the most mundane places yet provide you with the most exhilarating, worldly experiences.

Every time you come across something which gives you inspiration, makes you smile or provides any kind of positive emotion – take my word for it, note it down!

The quest to becoming clear on the direction your career should take is a very difficult one; I’ve been through it so I know.

The beginning is always the hardest, having to support myself with the odd job here and there; things may not look bright initially.

However, overtime things will add up for sure. With passion and the will-to-live, whilst understanding your reason for being alive will surely make you more successful than you imagine.

Final tip

If you want to know whether your dream is ‘big’ enough, see if it gets you up in the morning. Whilst you’re lying in bed, just think of your dream; create a mental image of actually being present during that reality and see the effect it has on you in the present.

The world needs you in many more ways than you think possible, don’t settle for the low-hanging fruit. You were born to do much more than that.